David Olusoga writes (Where is Britain’s version of Roots?, 3 March) that the Roots remake is even better than the original series, shown in the late 70s. Agreed. Yet why on earth did it go out on BBC4? Does the Corporation now regard this station as a kind of intellectual ghetto for the “liberal elite”, who are the only viewers likely to appreciate such programmes?
There is enough, often gratuitous murder and rape on the BBC’s mass-audience channels (eg The Fall), so it cannot be fear that showing these things will upset viewers. Are the programmers worried about challenging the racist preconceptions of some viewers? Or do they believe that the mass TV audience is stupider than it was 40 years ago? I would have thought that complying with the Reithian remit to “educate and inform” in this day and age would involve showing series like Roots at prime time on BBC2 at the very least.
Bas Hardy
Liverpool
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